Jack: So, oh great and powerful Oz; how's that new schedule working for you?
Me: I got the chapter done in record time, didn't I?
Jack: No; record time was when you actually were posting a chapter every day, for several days in a row.
Me: Chapters were shorter back then; what with inflation and all, everything's getting bigger all the time.
Jack: …
Jack: I don't think that's how it works.
Me: Whatever; anyway folks, enjoy the chapter.
Jack, Nicholas, and Maylene popped back into existence just outside Lily of the Valley Town. They'd all gathered in the main room of Jack's suite, with Nicholas's team in their Pokéballs and Jack's in the Pack, and Maylene having only brought Lucario's Pokéball without which she never went anywhere. Once there, Jack had told them to grab his hands and hold on tight; and when he had a firm grip on them, Jack teleported them all to the town.
To Jack, the experience was an almost eerily familiar one; as if he'd been hopping instantaneously through space all his life. And the… place through which he travelled when he did so was like nothing he'd ever experienced before, and yet it was comforting and familiar; almost like he belonged there.
Nicholas and Maylene however, weren't quite as comfortable with the experience.
"Wh… what was t-that?!" Nicholas exclaimed; stumbling around, bent over double, and looking like he was going to be sick.
Maylene was only somewhat less dramatically affected; she was a little disorientated and dizzy for a second, but that seemed to pass quickly as she regained her bearings.
"What just happened," she asked once her head stopped spinning.
"We just teleported to the outskirts of Lily of the Valley Town," Jack said. "You both okay?"
"I'm good," Maylene said, looking around.
"Does it always feel so… weird?" Nicholas asked, holding his head; although he already seemed to be recovering.
Jack wasn't too concerned about the motion sickness; he'd seen this happen to people he'd teleported before and he knew it was temporary, and that it got easier the more they did it.
"Kinda," he said in response to Nicholas's question. "It feels weird for most people at first, but it gets easier to deal with; after a while you barely even notice it."
"I don't think I'd ever get used to something like that," Nicholas said. "It felt so… so…"
"Alien," Maylene said, although there was something approaching awe in her voice. "And you can really travel wherever you want, in no time at all?"
"Pretty much," Jack said. "Although I have to know exactly where I want to go, and where it is in relation to where I am; it's easiest if I can see where I want to go, but I can't teleport at all to somewhere I haven't been to or seen before."
Maylene nodded, obviously filing the information away.
"And that place," Nicholas asked, "It doesn't bother you at all?"
Jack scratched the back of his head. "No, not really; it's just… quiet."
"Not how I'd describe it," Nicholas muttered.
Jack shrugged. "Well, okay then; we don't have to teleport any more if you don't want to."
"Really?" Nicholas asked.
Jack grinned impishly. "No."
With that, the world around them blurred once more into the black void with which Jack was familiar; as usual, the darkness glittered with what looked like millions of distant stars in all directions. There was a brief sensation of being completely without sensation, then the real world popped up around them again; this time in the middle of town.
Nicholas and Maylene stumbled forward as their senses told them they'd been moving, but when they caught themselves they barely seemed dizzy at all.
"Dude!" Nicholas exclaimed, turning to Jack. "Not cool, not cool at all. Warn me next time."
"That was kind of rude, I have to admit," Maylene said, crossing her arms.
"Sorry," Jack said. "But I'm guessing it didn't feel as bad that time, right?"
Nicholas hesitated a second before replying, "That's beside the point."
Jack held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, okay; I won't do it again, promise."
"Good," Nicholas said, feigning a look of injured dignity. "Come; let us, as they say, 'see the sights.'"
"Yessir," Jack said, saluting. "Right away sir."
Maylene looked at the two of them and sighed ruefully. "Why do I feel like I just signed on for more than I can handle?"
"I have no idea," Jack and Nicholas said in perfect unison.
"Anyway," Jack continued, as if nothing had happened, "Since we're here, why don't we let our Pokémon out?"
"A capital idea, old chap," Nicholas said in his best English accent, which was pretty bad. "Jolly good, wot wot."
"No, don't... don't do that," Jack said seriously. "Just… don't."
To tell the truth, Lily of the Valley Town really wasn't much to look at; there were next to no tourist attractions. Pretty much its sole purpose, and source of income, was the people who gathered there for the Lily of the Valley Conference every year; there were a lot hotels and shops, but not much in the way of entertainment.
On the other hand, they were on an island; Lily of the Valley Town was stationed about two feet from a long stretch of yellow, beautifully clean, and blissfully warm sand at the edge of the ocean. It was early fall, but it still felt more like late summer and the water was still nice and warm; with the sun only just having begun to set. As such, it didn't take a genius to figure out what would happen.
Nicholas and Maylene had both anticipated an afternoon at the beach, and had worn swimsuits under their clothes; Jack didn't have one, and so was forced to buy a pair of swim trunks from a nearby shop. They were blue; obviously.
With their attire settled, Jack, Nicholas, and Maylene hit the water enthusiastically; followed closely by most of their Pokémon. Thomas and Sunspot abstained for obvious reasons, Katana opted out because her scythes weren't much good in the water, and Strike the Ninjask stayed away from the water because he said it was bad for his wings. Aside from them however, everyone enjoyed splashing around for a while; the water, still warm from the summer heat, was quite relaxing on tired muscles.
Aside from the occasional bout of splashing, the swim was actually fairly sedate. Eventually they borrowed a ball from the lifeguard's shed and played some volleyball, but as they played, Jack realised that he missed the high-pitched giggles of delight to which he'd grown so accustomed. Marsh, Strike, and Wendy used to be the life of any party they had; but now they'd all evolved, and had matured a lot in the process. They were still playful and fun-loving, but they weren't kids any more.
"I know what you mean," Nicholas replied when Jack broached the topic with him. "They grow up so fast. When Marsh and Strike evolved, even though they were still the same Pokémon, I suddenly started missing all the childish antics they used to get up to. It made me feel like an old man, watching his kids grow up before his eyes; it won't be long before they're fawning over pretty girl Pokémon, and I'll just bet Scatterbolt's going to take it upon himself to keep them in line when that happens."
Jack nodded. "I'll just bet."
"On the other hand," Nicholas continued, "Strike doesn't strike me... no pun intended, as the kind of guy to go in for that kind of… Heads up!"
Nicholas launched himself almost clean out of the water, and smacked the incoming volleyball out of the air; sending it back over the net into enemy territory. Jack shook his head to clear it, and resolved to think about this later; namely, after they'd won the game. But Nicholas's words once again struck a chord with him; he wondered, against his will, exactly how much Wendy had changed when she evolved. He supposed only time would tell, and shifted his concentration back to the game.
The match had originally started as a humans vs. Pokémon grudge-match, with Jack and Jason leading their respective teams; but the others quickly joined in on the fun. On Jack's team were Nicholas, Maylene, Cap, Strike, Wendy, Lucy, Katana and Aura. On Jason's were Sunspot, Maylene's Lucario, Hunter, Ivy, Solomon, Marsh, Scatterbolt, and Frostbite. So far, the teams had proved to be almost perfectly evenly matched.
Since the game of volleyball required a maximum of five people per side at once in a W pattern, both sides rotated regularly. The current lineup for Jack's team, from left to right, were Cap and Wendy in front, Jack in the center, and Nicholas and Maylene in the rear. Jason's team had Marsh and Sunspot in front, Maylene's Lucario in center, and Hunter and Jason in the rear. Thomas was serving as the referee; a position he seemed to enjoy greatly.
"20/19 to Jack's team," he said as the ball landed on Jason's side. "Game point, Jack's team serving."
Maylene picked up the ball and got into position; she'd displayed an impressive amount of talent at putting the ball right where she wanted it when she served. If they scored this point it was game, and it was her responsibility to set the ball rolling; so to speak.
With a confident grin, Maylene chucked the ball into the air and hit it on the way down; an overhand serve, and a good one at that. The ball missed the top of the net by a hair, and whizzed by Lucario's ear; it looked like a clean point, but then Lucario's left hindpaw came up and around in a roundhouse kick which sent the ball sailing into the sky. Pokémon moves weren't allowed, but martial arts moves were.
Jack looked up, his eyes following the ball, and estimated where it was going to land; if he was right it would be on their side, right behind Nicholas.
"Mine," Jack called, jumping backwards to where the ball would land; Nicholas stepped forward out of the way, knowing that Jack had things well in hand.
When the ball came back down, exactly where Jack thought it would, Jack hit it with just enough force to send it back over the net and right between Hunter and Jason. Jason stepped to his left a little and palm-slammed the ball back over towards the middle, where Jack used to be; fortunately, Nicholas saw it coming and hit it back over. This went on for another several minutes yet without anyone scoring; what with almost everyone on the court possessing superhuman reflexes, every volley was a struggle of titanic proportions and points didn't come easily.
Eventually though, someone always messed up; this time it was Wendy, who hit the ball a little too hard and sent it flying out of the court.
"Sorry about that," Wendy said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
"Point to Jason's team," Thomas said. "The score ties at 20, the next point wins the game. Jason's team serving."
As per the rules, Jason's team had rotated when it became their serve; Jason, who had served last, was rotated off at the right with Ivy rotating in on the left. This made their formation Hunter and Lucario in front, Marsh in center, and Ivy and Sunspot in rear with Sunspot serving.
Jack could help but notice that the left side of the enemy field was weak; one well placed shot right between Hunter, Marsh, and Ivy might well win it for them. The only problem was getting it there; maybe Maylene could do it.
"Hey Maylene," he said. "Do you see it?"
"Yeah," she replied. "Just get the ball to me and I'll take it from there."
The rest of their team nodded, except for Nicholas who looked around in confusion.
"Am I the only one who has no idea what's going on?" he asked.
Jack shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah; just get the ball to Maylene."
Nicholas nodded, and Jack's attention returned to their opponents; Lucario was whispering something to Ivy. He'd probably seen the weak spot too, and was warning Ivy to move forward if Maylene got the ball. Jack looked back over to Maylene and a look passed between them.
"Trust me," Maylene's expression said. "I've got a new plan."
Jack nodded and got ready for the last round; Sunspot served overhand as well, sending the ball straight towards Wendy. A smart move; not only was she most likely Jack's team's weakest link, but Maylene was almost directly behind her making it almost impossible to pass it directly back to her.
Wendy, to her credit, responded well; jumping into the air and spiking the ball back down over the net. Jack wasn't sure if the rules allowed spiking a serve, but no one really seemed to care. Unfortunately, Hunter was there waiting for that; the Staraptor used her wings to bump the ball back to Ivy, who jumped and used her tail to send the ball back over the net towards Jack.
The ball came towards Jack at head-height, making it awkward to hit it with his hands; so he used his head instead, sending the ball up into the air. The ball fell almost right on top of Lucario, who spiked it back down over the net; Cap intercepted it with his head and sent it back to Nicholas, who sent it over to Maylene. The only problem was, he hit it too high.
Maylene tried to hit the ball as it flew over her head, but she couldn't move fast enough; the ball would have landed outside the court, but then Maylene's outline seemed to blur. To Jack, who was watching her every movement closely, it seemed as though time itself stopped around her while she kept going; reacting faster than any human ever could have, Maylene jumped after the ball and smacked as hard as she could.
Like a bullet fired from a gun, the ball shot over Hunter's head; Ivy had already moved forward to intercept it, knowing that Maylene would aim for the space between them, but to her surprise the ball sailed over her head as well. Maylene had aimed for the spot Ivy had just vacated, and it had worked perfectly; the ball hit the sand with a thud, and made a small crater.
"Jack's team wins, 21/20!" Thomas said.
Maylene, who had landed in her feet, shot an accusatory look at Nicholas.
"What was that?" she asked in mock-indignation, putting her hands on her hips. "You were supposed to pass it to me, not over me," she said with a grin.
Nicholas shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, it took me by surprise; still, looks like you had it well in hand."
Maylene was about to make a snappy retort, but before she could she was swamped by her teammates; all of whom were eager to congratulate her. Jack just looked at the gym leader with apprehension; from what he just saw, Maylene's abilities might have been a little more advanced than he originally thought. He'd really have to discuss it with her some time. Still, he thought to himself, no reason to let brooding pessimism ruin the moment.
"Let this be a lesson to you," Jack said jokingly, walking over to Jason and holding out his hand. "You might be better than me at using the aura, but you will never beat me at volleyball."
Jason chuckled and shook the hand Jack had extended.
"I think I can live with that," Jason replied. "After all, we wouldn't want to developing an inferiority complex from being around me too much."
Jack recoiled slightly, clutching his chest as if he'd been struck.
"Since when did you get so quick with the snappy comebacks?" Jack asked, more than a little surprised.
Jason shrugged. "It's a gift, and a curse."
"Oh, I see how it is," Jack said with a grin, backing away slightly. "I seem to have some competition in the humour department; I guess I'll have to watch out for you."
"Go ahead, if it makes you feel better," Jason shot back with a smirk. "But you still won't see me coming."
"Good grief," Jack exclaimed. "Did you stay up late last night thinking up one-liners or something? Anyway," he said, lowering his voice. "I assume you kept an eye on Nicholas like I asked; did you notice anything... strange about him?"
Jason lowered his voice as well. "Yes, were were right about him; there were several times when he moved a little faster than I thought he should've been able to. Do you really think..."
Jack nodded gratefully. "Yes, yes I do; judging by what you said, and what I've seen for myself, I think I might have to bring this matter up with them after dinner."
Me: And thus ends another chapter. This one was a lot of fun to write, especially the volleyball game; although I had to re-write the part leading up to it a few times before I was happy with it.
Jack: Personally, I'm just surprised that neither Nicholas or Maylene noticed when I called my entire team out of their Pokéballs, including the ones who weren't supposed to be in Pokéballs.
Me: *shrugs* Hey, Plot Convenience is a powerful thing; it's right there in the summary of the story. That, and by the time I realized that we'd messed up, it was too late to fix it without calling even more attention to it.
Jack: Anyway, moving on. Didn't you have some shameless self-plugging to do?
Me: Oh yeah, that's right; as some of you might not have noticed I uploaded a story entitled 'Concept test' the other day. It's based on an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while now, but I never decided whether or not to actually write it. So, when I got hit with a bad case of Writer's Block in the middle of this chapter, I took a couple of hours and wrote up a small sample of it. It's a Sci-Fi story, which is already uncharted territory for me, and it's based in the universe of a free game called Naev: Sea of Darkness; a space-age interplanetary exploration/combat/trading game. It's a lot of fun, and it's still under development; but I went to great pains to make sure you didn't need to play the game to understand my story. Anything that isn't explained in the trailer, would be later on in the story if I decide to continue writing it; but there's the crux of the matter. If.
The thing is, like I said, I'm not sure whether I should start writing yet another side-story; especially now that I've decided to finally get some real work done on my main one. So here's how you guys can help me out; read the story, leave a review, and take part in the poll I've (finally) set up on my profile. Tell me if it's something you would like to see me start writing; and if so, when. I need you guys to tell me what you think; your input means a lot to me, and it helps me become a better author.
Jack: Okay, you've said all this more times than I can count; I think you can afford to cut it short just this once. Anyway folks, we hope you enjoyed the chapter; see you next time.
